Parental Knowledge and Acceptance of Different Treatment Options for Primary Teeth Provided by Dental Practitioners

A randomized controlled trial to assess parental satisfaction with computerized intraosseous anesthesia versus inferior alveolar nerve block in children

This study aimed to compare parental satisfaction between two pediatric dental anesthesia techniques, computerized intraosseous anesthesia (CIA) and inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB). This study was designed as a split-mouth randomized controlled clinical trial. A total of 52 parents of children undergoing dental treatment were enrolled in the study. Each participant received both CIA and IANB anesthesia, with the order of administration randomized. Parental satisfaction was evaluated using the parental satisfaction of dental local anesthetic techniques scale (PSLAS). Statistical analysis revealed that parental satisfaction regarding CIA was higher than that for IANB with a significant difference (P ˂ 0.05). However, there was no difference regarding the age, gender or the education level of the parents. (P > 0.05). This study provides insights into parental satisfaction with pediatric dental anesthesia techniques and highlights the influence of socioeconomic factors on anesthesia decision-making. Within the limitations of this trial, it was concluded that CIA was significantly superior to IANB in overall parental satisfaction. However, parental satisfaction values were lower in CIA group regarding costs and concern from complications. In addition, it was concluded that there was no difference in satisfaction levels regarding the gender, age and education level of the parents.

Assessing Parental Preferences for Children's Oral Health in Rural Areas: A Study on Maintenance and Treatment Choices

AIM

This article investigates the oral health preferences of parents residing in rural areas for their children, including dental maintenance and treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 500 parents who sought dental consultation for their children between two and seven years old, excluding those with systemic or neurological disorders. Demographic characteristics, including child and parent age and gender, family structure, and parental education levels, were collected using self-administered questionnaires.

RESULTS

The study on oral health preferences of rural parents reveals the following key trends: peak dental treatment interest at six years old (104 children), slight gender disparity favoring males (54.8%), prevalent joint family structures (58%), and families with two children (48%). Most mothers marry before age 21 (62.8%), with varied education levels. Toothpaste and toothbrushes are preferred by the majority (65.2%) for oral hygiene. Common treatments include oral prophylaxis (164), pulpectomy/pulpotomy (114), and extractions (86). However, significant gaps exist: 62.8% do not grasp the importance of primary teeth, and 72% lack knowledge about specific treatments and drug-induced tooth problems, urging targeted educational strategies.

CONCLUSION

The study's outcome focuses on parental preferences for oral hygiene maintenance and their choices for dental treatment in primary dentition. The results highlight the influence of various factors on parental preferences and underscore the importance of improving parental knowledge for better oral health outcomes in rural populations.

Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Patients' Self-perception of Periodontal Diseases

OBJECTIVES

 The study aimed to evaluate type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients' self-perceived periodontal health status and to identify the association between periodontal disease (PD) and DM.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

 This cross-sectional study included 113 T1DM children between 3 and 18 years old from the Universiti Teknologi MARA and the University of Malaya. Periodontal health parameters, including plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, simplified basic periodontal examination, and clinical attachment loss, were recorded. Self-perceived periodontal health status was assessed with questionnaires.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

 Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the sensitivity of the questionnaire and the relationship between T1DM and periodontal parameters.

RESULTS

 The median age was 11.4 years. Half of them (50.4%) were females. A total of 83.5% rated their oral condition as good, whereas 27.5% reported a history of gingival bleeding. Clinical examination revealed that 48.7% had healthy gingiva, whereas 47.8% had gingivitis. The question "Do you have bleeding when brushing, flossing, or eating food?" showed good accuracy in the evaluation of PD (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

 The questionnaire has a high potential to be used by medical professionals in identifying T1DM patients at risk of PD to guide nondental health care providers in making appropriate referrals to dental services.

A Comparative Study of Parent and Child Perspectives on Using the Intranasal Mucosal Atomization Device for Behavior Management in Pediatric Dental Sedation

Background Dental anxiety in children often necessitates sedation for effective treatment. Different methods of sedation have proved to be beneficial. However, intranasal sedation provides a needleless, rapid drug delivery method that bypasses hepatic metabolism. Intranasal sedative drugs can be delivered using a mucosal atomization device (MAD). This study aimed to find the opinions, beliefs, and existing knowledge of parents and children regarding intranasal sedation and the method of drug delivery through MAD. Materials and methods The study comprised 50 parents, aged 20 to 50, who came in with a single child, aged five to nine years. In separate rooms, parents and kids were each shown a video about the use of the intranasal sedation technique with MAD as a pharmaceutical help during routine dental procedures. After the video presentation, each participant was required to complete a pretested self-made questionnaire with 21 questions and multiple-choice options. The chi-square test was used in the statistical analysis of the completed questionnaires (P < 0.05). Paired t-test was used for behavior assessment of the children before and after intranasal sedation. Results A significant correlation between parental socioeconomic status and acceptance of intranasal sedation was observed. Parents with higher education levels exhibited a greater level of acceptance (P = 0.000). Parents whose children had prior dental experiences were more likely to view intranasal sedation as a safe option (P = 0.038). Additionally, a significant proportion of previously sedated children expressed willingness to undergo treatment using intranasal sedation. Evaluation of children's behavior before and after treatment revealed a notable improvement, indicating the effectiveness of intranasal sedation (P = 0.000). Conclusion The study thoroughly investigated how parents and children view intranasal sedation via MAD. It revealed a positive perception of safety and trust among parents regarding this method for pediatric dental procedures.

Child dental neglect and legal protections: a compendium of briefs from policy reviews in 26 countries and a special administrative region of China

Background

Child neglect is a public health, human rights, and social problem, with potentially devastating and costly consequences. The aim of this study was to: (1) summarize the oral health profile of children across the globe; (2) provide a brief overview of legal instruments that can offer children protection from dental neglect; and (3) discuss the effectiveness of these legal instruments.

Methods

We summarized and highlighted the caries profile and status of implementation of legislation on child dental neglect for 26 countries representing the World Health Organization regions: five countries in Africa (Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe), eight in the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Unites States of America, Uruguay), six in the Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Iran, Libya, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia), four in Europe (Italy, Latvia, Serbia, United Kingdom), two in South-East Asia (India and Indonesia) and one country (China) with its special administrative region (Hong Kong) in the Western Pacific.

Results

Twenty-five of the 26 countries have legal instruments to address child neglect. Only two (8.0%) of these 25 countries had specific legal instruments on child dental neglect. Although child neglect laws can be interpreted to establish a case of child dental neglect, the latter may be difficult to establish in countries where governments have not addressed barriers that limit children's access to oral healthcare. Where there are specific legal instruments to address child dental neglect, a supportive social ecosystem has also been built to facilitate children's access to oral healthcare. A supportive legal environment, however, does not seem to confer extra protection against risks for untreated dental caries.

Conclusions

The institution of specific country-level legislation on child dental neglect may not significantly reduce the national prevalence of untreated caries in children. It, however, increases the prospect for building a social ecosystem that may reduce the risk of untreated caries at the individual level. Social ecosystems to mitigate child dental neglect can be built when there is specific legislation against child dental neglect. It may be more effective to combine public health and human rights-based approaches, inclusive of an efficient criminal justice system to deal with child dental neglect.

Parental recall bias in observational studies: Child dental service use

BACKGROUND

Parents are frequently used to recall events of exposure and disease as a proxy for their children in observational health research.

AIM

To assess the validity of parental recall of children's utilisation of dental services.

DESIGN

Parents in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) were asked to recall their children's overall dental service use in the previous year and whether the study child had received fillings or extractions due to decay in the previous 2 years. True positives were identified through parents who correctly recalled child dental service utilisation with actual dental treatment received in a linked dataset.

RESULTS

Of the 10 090 participants from the LSAC, 1290 study children had linked dental treatment data eligible for inclusion in this study. The absolute true-positive rate for parental recall of dental service use in the previous year was 82% (n = 1263). Overall true-positive percentages were lower for recall of fillings (40%) and extractions (7%) in the previous 2 years. Increasing number of recall days was associated with the rate of true-positive recall adjusted for other factors in all three models.

CONCLUSION

Accuracy of parental recall for tooth fillings and extractions was low. The use of parental recall for specific dental treatment over a time span of 2 years in further research is not recommended.

Assessment of Parental Satisfaction with Various Aesthetic Crowns Among Children of Various Age Groups: An Original Research

Introduction

Over the past ten years, parents have become more involved in choosing the aesthetic restorations for their ward. The strip crown and the prefabricated zirconia crown are some of the common anterior aesthetic complete crowns. The purpose of this study is to examine parental satisfaction over a one-year period in children aged three to five with "Strip Crowns" versus "Preformed Primary Anterior Zirconia Crowns".

Materials and Procedures

Current study included 20 children. Among them their both central incisors were restored using the two varieties of crowns. The distribution of participants was done using the permuted block randomization approach. Twenty parents who participated were called back over a year to complete the questionnaire. The data was collected and compared while the statistics are deemed significant at P < 0.05.

Results

Both restoration options received positive feedback from parents. With strip crowns, there was a statistically significant correlation between overall happiness and longevity of the restoration (P = 0.003) and color (P = 0.033) in zirconium crowns. The parents who expressed less pleasure with the strip crowns' longevity and the color of zirconia crowns did so overall, though.

Conclusion

In conclusion, prefabricated primary anterior zirconia crowns were more popular with parents than strip crowns. All other criteria were about equally well-liked by parents, with the exception of longevity, which was more common for zirconia crowns.

Is It Mum or the Dad? Parental Factors That Influence the Use and Acceptance of Fluoride Varnish among Parents in Eastern Saudi Arabia

Objective

To investigate parental factors that influence knowledge, use, and acceptance of fluoride varnish (FLV) application.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted during December 2021. A multistage sampling technique was used to recruit parents with children aged 3 to 6 years and residing in Eastern Saudi Arabia, excluding those working in the dental field. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: demographics, knowledge, previous experience, and acceptance of FLV and was pilot-tested and distributed online using social media.

Results

A total of 623 parents responded to the survey. Only 36.9% of parents had good FLV knowledge with dentists being the main source of information. Gender, educational level, family income, being in the medical field, and source of knowledge were factors that significantly (P < 0.05) influenced parental knowledge. Only 24.6% of the parents applied fluoride varnish to their children before, of whom only 29% were satisfied with the experience. Parent's FLV knowledge, view of dental visits, satisfaction with previous experience, perception of children's oral health, and willingness to reapply FLV were factors that significantly (P < 0.05) influenced FLV use. Working in the medical field, perception of dental visits, and the source of knowledge were factors that significantly (P < 0.05) influenced the parent's acceptance to apply FLV. While lack of knowledge about fluoride benefits (15%) was the main reason for parental refusal to apply FLV.

Conclusions

The current study highlights the lack of knowledge and application of FLV among parents. There were more factors influencing mothers' acceptance of FLV application compared to fathers. Age, educational level, working in the medical field, perception, and patterns of dental visits were some of the identified factors. Dentists played a major role in parental knowledge and FLV acceptance. In a country with high caries prevalence, preventive programs such as FLV education and application are crucial.

Digital surveillance: Monitoring the activity of Internet users searching for information related to early childhood caries

This study evaluated the behavior of Internet users from seven countries through the analysis of the monthly variation of the Relative Search Volume (RSV) for queries related to early childhood caries (ECC), retrieved by Google Trends application programming interface between January 2004 to December 2020. The association of RSV with years lived with disability (YLDs) for untreated dental caries in deciduous teeth and Internet penetration were tested by regression models. Forecasting models were developed to predict the interests until December 2021. Relevant topics linked to searches were assessed qualitatively. Increasing levels of interests were observed in most countries, regarding the comparison of periods 2004-2012 and 2013-2021, without influence of seasonality. These results were associated with YLDs only in France and with the Internet penetration in Mexico and France. Searches were mostly related to the definition, risk factors, and preventive care of ECC. The interests of Internet users in ECC-related information increased in the last years in all seven countries, although it was maintained low over time. It might indicate a lack of awareness about the negative consequences of the disease in the early stages of life. Specific policies should be developed toward the dissemination of oral health information and the prevention of the disease.

Comparison of parental satisfaction with strip crowns and primary anterior zirconia crowns in 3-5 years old children over 1 year

BACKGROUND

During the past decade, parental involvement for the selection of full coronal restorations for the primary anterior teeth of their children has been increased. Two most common anterior aesthetic full coronal restorations, the strip crowns and the preformed zirconia crowns, are available options.

AIM

The aim of this study is to compare parental satisfaction with strip crowns and preformed primary anterior zirconia crowns over 1 year in 3-5 years old children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Forty maxillary primary incisors were restored by either strip crown or zirconia crown in 24 children. Permuted block randomization method was used for the allocation of participants. Twenty-four parents participated were recalled to fill the questionnaire over 1 year. One parent dropped out at the end of 1 year. Data were analyzed using the t-test and Chi-square test. P < 0.05 considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Parents were satisfied with both types of restorations. Statistically significant relationship was found between overall satisfaction and durability (P = 0.004) with strip crowns and with the color (P = 0.043) in the zirconia crowns. The parents with the lower satisfaction levels with the durability of strip crowns and color of zirconia crowns rated high overall satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

Parental overall satisfaction was higher for preformed primary anterior zirconia crowns than strip crowns. Almost equal number of parents was satisfied with all other parameters except for durability, which was more for zirconia crowns.